


the last snowfall

by cirrus (themorninglark)



Series: rareprompts [23]
Category: Free!
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Weekend trip, Winter, train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:38:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4561389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themorninglark/pseuds/cirrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Like many things Rin does, this trip had been sudden and spontaneous and, at the same time, impeccably well-organised; like many things Haruka does, it had featured, chiefly, water. Haruka, wholly unapologetic about the fact, had not even attempted to hide it.</p><p>He'd asked, <i>what else would you find at a place called the Lake District?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	the last snowfall

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon who asked for SouRinHaru. I wanted to write them in the future, and I wanted something a little lighter of heart, because god knows there's probably enough stuff out there for them that's feelsy and angsty and that's how I've previously tended myself, so - have a little weekend trip story ♥
> 
> (Title from Vienna Teng's song of the same name.)

"We could have driven."

It's the first thing any of them has said for a good twenty minutes. Sousuke's been pretending to sleep, at least, only halfway; he feels like he _might_ have drifted in and out of actual shut-eye because there's something lulling about the whole situation, the flurries of white in the moonlit dark of the English countryside, the still air in their cabin.

Rin, on his part, has been plugged into headphones and a book, and Haruka - as far as Sousuke can tell - has done absolutely nothing but stare out the window, silent and inscrutable.

Sousuke cracks open an eyelid at the sound of his voice. It comes without warning, like the snow; it is quiet, and the soft chill of its falling is a commanding whisper in his ear. _Listen to me._

Next to him, Rin removes his headphones, meeting Haruka's accusing glare head on.

"Oh, come _on_ , Haru - like driving in the snow is any better than being on the train in the snow - "

"Snow's just water," says Haruka, with maddening calm.

"And you've driven in water, have you?"

"It's not that different from swimming, you just carve out an opening, thrust your engine forward with your foot on the pedal - "

"As usual," mutters Sousuke, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I thought you were sleeping," Rin says, turning to him.

"I am."

The light in the train blinks, fuzzes dark for a moment. Sousuke leans back against his seat. Slowly, he rests his cheek against the cool window and lets his eyes close again.

"Carry on," he murmurs, without looking. "You were having such a good conversation."

He's only half-joking.

Like many things Rin does, this trip had been sudden and spontaneous and, at the same time, impeccably well-organised; like many things Haruka does, it had featured, chiefly, water. Haruka, wholly unapologetic about the fact, had not even attempted to hide it.

He'd asked, _what else would you find at a place called the Lake District?_

Rin had snorted with laughter, and Sousuke, looking up from a map of Windermere into Haruka's deeply serious gaze, knew he had no satisfactory answer to that question.

As the sole voice of reason in this enterprise, he'd felt duty bound to point out to them: _people don't normally go there now because it's goddamned cold._

And Rin had said, _oh, you think I can't take it?_

_I know you can't take it. You complain about the air-conditioning in shopping malls._

It had been the wrong thing and the right thing to say all at once. Rin, eyes blazing like the height of summer, had folded up the map and declared he would log onto the National Rail website that very night and buy tickets for this weekend.

_Besides, the best time to see a thing is when there are no bloody tourists there, right?_

Sousuke couldn't disagree with that statement.

A few days ago, though, he'd been sceptical still; he'd gone along with it because it was too much trouble to resist, and in the end, it was on a misty Saturday afternoon in the alpine air, after a long climb, that he'd fully understood what Rin meant.

He'd looked at Rin looking at Haruka with a softness in his smile, looked at Haruka, utterly content with the clear blue panorama of sky and water and snow-capped pikes, and in the hush that fell across the mountains and the three of them, there was -

_peace._

_Sometimes,_ Rin said, _Haru just needs to get away from people._

Sousuke gets that. There's a lot about Haruka he can't figure out, still, if he thinks too much about it; but if he doesn't think at all, he's not that difficult.

They've been stalled on the rails for a while now. Exactly how long, Sousuke isn't quite sure; he could look at his watch (and he does, _8:05_ , it says, blinking dinnertime at him), but even so, there's something strangely timeless about this. Cocooned in the snowfall, the world seems to have stilled, suspended, just for this moment. Fleeting, and eternal.

Rin pokes him in the side. "Oi. Where are we, anyway?"

"Fuck if I know," says Sousuke.

"See, Haru? That's why we can't drive."

" _Hey_ , what?" Sousuke sits up. " _You_ can read a map."

"Yeah, but _I'm_ not driving in winter - "

"I can drive," says Haruka.

"So you and I do all the work while this guy sleeps in the backseat?"

Sousuke feels his lips quirking upwards in amusement. "That wouldn't have been a bad idea."

Haruka shrugs. "I don't really care what he does."

"Oh, for the _love of_ \- you two are impossible."

And Rin, with an indignant huff, puts his headphones back on very pointedly and looks away. Across the table, Sousuke and Haruka exchange a wry glance.

His stomach lets out a low rumble. Haruka, without a word, reaches into his bag and pulls out a chunk of Kendal Mint Cake that he'd bought as his sole souvenir; he breaks off three pieces and hands two to Rin and Sousuke.

Sousuke takes a small bite, feels the tingle on his tongue. Rin pops the whole thing into his mouth. He's always been one for extreme flavours.

Before the night's out, Sousuke knows, the train will pull into Euston and they'll go their separate ways; Sousuke back to his dorm and Rin and Haruka to their hotel, and Monday will come. He'll have classes, they'll have training, and in the blink of an eye, they'll be leaving on a plane once again.

Sousuke's learned to guard himself from nostalgia. There's nothing for him, in the sepia halls of memories long boxed-up and locked away; yet, as he looks out into the black-and-white photograph of the faded hills and swirling snow beyond his window, he thinks, as long as they're _here_ , now - with nowhere else to go -

_might as well remember this._

From the corner of his eye, he feels Rin's gaze on him.

_Sometimes, Haru just needs to get away from people._

And sometimes, Sousuke's dimly aware, he just needs to be with his friends, in a place no one can disturb.

Rin knew that too, better than he did.

 


End file.
